1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to a LED lamp for use with desktop, laptop and palmtop computers. More specifically, to a LED illuminator powered via the USB or the IEEE 1394 port.
2. Related Art
Reading papers next to a laptop computer and/or seeing the keys on a keyboard, in dimly lit areas such as airplanes and lecture halls can present a difficult task. Flooding the area around the computer with overhead lights can be difficult, impossible, impractical or impermissible.
Applicants, patent application Ser. No. 09/862,885 entitled xe2x80x9cIEEE 1394 or USB Powered Computer Lightxe2x80x9d provides a USB or IEEE 1394 powered computer light which can solve some lighting problems. It would also be desirous to have a computer powered light which has selectable illumination sources, spectrum, and/or output directions.
The present invention is a computer powered light with one or more light emitting diodes (LED) as the illumination source. The computer powered light plugs into a female USB or IEEE 1394 port and draws its power from the USB or IEEE 1394 port. One or more Light emitting diodes are supported on at least one movable support member for easy positioning. The movable support may have a bendable necks or flexible and rigid sections
Each of the one or more LEDs may have similar or dissimilar fan angle of light dispersion. LEDs may have similar or dissimilar output wavelengths in visible or non-visible spectral regions.
Power drain on the computer can be minimized with current limiting circuitry supplying the power to the LEDs. The LEDs may be default xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d or switched. Switched LEDs may be switched separately, or they may be switched together. Current balancing circuitry may be included when powering multiple LEDs in series, particularly for those embodiments which use LEDs with different spectral outputs that have dissimilar nominal current and/or amperage requirements.
In some embodiments one or more of the LEDs are placed in a movable LED receiving head to direct the illumination in addition to the directional orientation from the movement of the movable support member.
In some embodiments the connector body is height adjustable. Aligning the bottom of the connector body with the bottom of the desktop, laptop, notebook or palmtop computer, to which it is affixed provides additional support for the IEEE 1394 or USB powered computer light.
Some computers have only a single, or a limited number of, USB or Firewire (IEEE 1394) ports. Accordingly the computer light may be configured to provide an auxiliary xe2x80x9cpass-throughxe2x80x9d USB or IEEE 1394 port to allows additional connections to the computer through the same port powering the light.
The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The invention itself, however, both as to configuration, and method of operation, and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.